Feds Targeting Alternative Media In Information Warfare Campaign

After nearly a year-long struggle with USWGO reporter Brian Hill has been able to force the federal government to hand over documents a short list of documents revealing alternative media news sites being monitored.

The documents reveal that not only are the feds personalities and sites such Alex Jones and his websites but many sites are also being targeted in an information warfare campaign being conducted by US intelligence and counterintelligence .

Alex Jones has released a video about the documents and Paul Joseph Watson has posted and article on what the documents reveal about the DHS monitoring his sites.

So far their reports on the FOIA documents do not indicate they have uncovered the information warfare campaign being conducted in which they are being targeted but this article puts those pieces together.

While scouring through thousands of pages of FOIA documents released by the federal government to piece together the evidence of a coordinated nationwide crackdown on the Occupy Movement, I learned to pay attention to certain details that might normally be overlooked (see this, this, and this)

As such, the first thing I noticed was information in the footer of document 3 which, as I explain below, unearthed an information warfare campaign against alternative media sites.

First here’s a just released video form Alex Jones on the documents followed by an article on Infowars about the scandal which I will follow-up with additional analysis to pointing to information warfare being waged against Alex Jones by US Military, intelligence and counter-intelligence agencies.

Hundreds of pages of documents released under the Freedom of Information Act reveal that the Department of Homeland Security monitored political opposition to the See Something, Say Something campaign, as well as tracking Infowars stories and user comments on a myriad of other issues while categorizing the website as “Right Wing Terrorism”.

Having initially requested copies of records in August 2011, “regarding any political profiling documents that specify what groups are monitored under fusion centers all over the country and which kinds of people are profiled,” Brian D. Hill of USWGO.com finally received the documents recently after a year of back and forth communication with the agency during which he narrowed down his request to include search results which included DHS discussion of a handful of websites, including Infowars.com.

The documents contain email communications as well as intelligence reports circulated between different offices of the Department of Homeland Security as well as the Office of Intelligence and Analysis (I&A). In most cases, the identities of individuals both sending and receiving the messages have been redacted.

A report dated January 24, 2011, marked “for official use only” and produced by the Amtrak Intelligence Team is entitled Opposition to “See Something, Say Something”.

The report notes how Infowars.com launched a campaign in opposition to the DHS program, which encourages citizens to report “suspicious activity” to the authorities, including via television screens at Wal-Mart stores which play a message from DHS chief Janet Napolitano.

The document notes how Infowars “claims” the campaign was based on the “V for Victory” symbol of French resistance to Nazi occupation in WWII, while implying that the movie V For Vendetta, as well as an incident in 2006 where Clay Duke spray painted a ‘V’ on the wall during a school board meeting in Panama City, Florida before shooting at board members, were motivations behind the campaign.

“Some people may associate the film in which a modern-day Guy Fawkes attacks a totalitarian regime in England with Jones’ campaign,” states the document.

The report includes screenshots of posters used in the campaign, alongside the text, “Alex Jones is calling on
people to place campaign posters in public places to counter a perceived “police state.” Supporters also might write the letter “V” on public property as a protest effort.”

The report makes it clear that the growth and success of the campaign was monitored by federal authorities.

“Jones’ Facebook page offers 58 “V for Victory” posters that people can print, and as of 24 January, 1,840 people “liked” his “V for Victory” Facebook page. Over 135,000 “like” Jones’ personal Facebook page,” states the report.

The document also includes a photo of an activist placing a ‘V’ poster on a telegraph pole in support of the campaign.

Screenshots from the report entitled ‘Opposition to See Something, Say Something’.

“On Jones’ website PrisonPlanet.com, an individual posted his photo (pictured above) in support of the campaign. Over 60 responses to the campaign shared support,” states the document.

The report then quotes an individual with the user name ‘netwrkingman’, who commented, “Just got done with my flyer campaign, EVERY Wal Mart door pole, fast food drive thru and Star Bucks drive thru in my local 3 cities is now V’d up. Woo.”

The document also notes how aggressive TSA screening policies introduced in 2010, “Spurred increased criticism that the U.S. government has become a “police state” that is abusing individual liberty.”

A subsequent email sent the next day by an individual from the “Office of Intelligence & Analysis – U.S. Department of Homeland Security – Baton Rouge, LA,” states, “For your S/A if you haven’t seen this reporting from yesterday—the groups is trying to counter the DSH (sic) “see something, say something” campaign.”

Another DHS email contains an Infowars story about how the DHS’ promotional videos for its See Something, Say Something campaign go to great lengths to portray white, middle class Americans as the most likely terrorists. The article notes how, “No matter where you look, from East Germany, to Communist Russia, to Nazi Germany, historically governments who encourage their own citizens to report on each other do so not for any genuine safety concerns or presumed benefits to security, but in order to create an authoritarian police state that coerces the people into policing each other’s behavior and thoughts.”

The emails also expose how the Department of Homeland Security has been monitoring Infowars in relation to a number of other news stories.

An email dated April 6, 2009 sent to “SL_Field” contains an article by Mark Potok of the Southern Poverty Law Center about Richard Poplawski, the man who killed three Pittsburgh police officers during a shoot-out on April 4, 2009. In the article, Poplawski attempts to lay the blame on Alex Jones for the shootings by claiming that “Poplawski was reportedly interested” in Alex Jones’ websites – Infowars and Prison Planet. What Potok fails to divulge is the fact that Poplawski had left comments on both websites disagreeing with and denigrating Alex Jones. When this was revealed, numerous large media outlets had to issue retractions withdrawing the claim that Poplawski was inspired by Jones, but the SPLC failed to follow suit.

One of the documents also covers the DHS’ reaction to an incident in January 2011 where a sticker was placed on the mirror inside a restroom at the Mitchell Courthouse, Baltimore City Circuit Court. The sticker, which read “9-11 Was an Inside Job. Learn the truth at InfoWars.com PrisonPlanet.com Jonesreport.com,” prompted the courthouse to contact the DHS and ask for advice on whether “I&A, SLPO and other LE/IC partners have reported similar activities?”

“This is a promotional sticker from Prison Planet and Infowars: He’s a conspiracy theorist from back in the late nineties that gets some airplay from but no one else takes him seriously. He believes that there’s a cabal of secret global elites that control the government through secret societies like Skull and Bones, Bohemian Grove, Masons, etc,” stated the DHS reply.

“The fact that this incident was even reported seems like a complete waste of time and paper, the fact that it was even reported at all is really pretty scary,” notes Donna Anderson. “This was merely a sticker, a thin piece of paper glued to a mirror, but because the message suggested a government cover-up, it was deemed a “threat” and reported to the DHS.”

This article also forms the body of a subsequent email circulated within the DHS and sent to “A&P Managers” which also contained an attachment entitled, “Homeland Security Assessment Rightwing Extremism Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment.”

The email notes how, “This must be the article (see attached email chain) that generated the calls to the NOC this morning.” The article describes how a DHS document warns federal and local officials to expect “terrorism” in response to planned firearm restrictions.

The document also contains dozens of comments from respondents to the articles, highlighting how the DHS is also closely monitoring remarks made on the Internet.

An email from August 2009 contains an article which includes a reference to an Infowars story about preparations for martial law in the event of a mass pandemic.

Screenshot of the Infowars.com front page in a report entitled “Right Wing Terrorism”.

Another document contains a power point-style report entitled “Right Wing Terrorism”. Included along with images of racist scrawlings on restroom walls, white supremacists, neo-nazis, and other race-hate groups is the Oath Keepers organization, the Sovereign Citizen movement and a screenshot of the Infowars.com front page next to the words, Hardin – American Police Force – Conspiracy theorists believe this is the new location for the FEMA camp.”

This refers to investigation conducted by Infowars in September 2009 during which it was revealed that a private security force had begun patrolling the streets of Hardin, Montana after the group was originally contracted to provide security at a previously empty detention center located in the town.

An email dated May 3, 2011 contains an L.A. Times article which discusses how “conspiracy theorists” doubt the official narrative behind the death of Osama Bin Laden following the dubious tale about how the Al-Qaeda leader was “buried at sea”.

These documents illustrate the fact that the Department of Homeland Security is slowly evolving into a KGB-lite style secret police outfit that seems to be just as concerned about monitoring political free speech as it is about genuine threats to the homeland.

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) also admits that it has documents which contain political profiling pertaining to Alex Jones, Infowars as well as the Drudge Report, but has thus far refused to release them despite facing a Freedom of Information Act request.

Read the full list of released documents below, courtesy of USWGO.com.

Now here’s my analysis of what they missed and hopefully others will pickup where I leave off, as I am only one person and do not have the time to follow all of the research leads contained in these documents.

Let me turn your attention to FOIA Document 3:

While this document appear to reveal little it is actually a treasure trove of information in a much larger picture and here’s why.

First notice the footer begins with a legal notice indicating citing the title for US Copyright Fair Us . From this we can assume that most likely the sender is working for a for profit corporation with deep pockets for lawyers and this information is most likely being distributed as part of contract work for spooks from a government contractor.

Moving beyond assumptions, which we can certainly can read further into, the last sentences provides us with a golden nugget – Provided by G2-Forward.

The first Google search result for G2-Forward reveals this email is part of ‘Access Intelligence List’ provided by G2-Forward which is a non-profit company based in Washington DC.

It is described as an Open Source Intelligence e-mail list containing unclassified intelligence information for Military Operations, Intelligence, Counterintelligence and Emergency Response fields.

While the the ‘list has no connection to or affiliation with any department or agency of the United States Government’ the list consists of information provided by its members whose professions are restricted to those who ‘aid professionals engaged in the business of operating this nation’s national security establishment’.

More specifically the “list is open to personnel engaged in United States Government intelligence, counterintelligence, military (active/reserve) and information warfare operations‘

Personnel allowed to joing the list are “DOD/OSD personnel working in communications , crisis and consequence management operations” as well as “Retired Military from the above fields”, and “Select law enforcement”.

Additionally “subject matter experts and academics” are also eligible to apply for membership but their is no guarantee of approval.

G2-Forward, a District of Columbia Non-Profit Corporation, is pleased to announce the formation of a new Open Source Intelligence e-mail list. The list will be known as Access Intelligence.

Access Intelligence is an unclassified e-mail list intended to provide Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) on situations and areas of the world of interest to those persons involved in Military Operations, Intelligence,
Counterintelligence and Emergency Response fields. This list is operated, at no costs to its members, by G2-Forward, a non-profit District of Columbia Corporation. This list has no connection to or affiliation with any department or agency of the United States Government. The material available on this list is provided by its
membership. All members are encouraged to contribute to the list. This list is not for chat, jokes or domestic political gossip. This list is intended as a tool to aid professionals engaged in the business of operating this nation’s national security establishment. It is estimated that normal, i.e. non-crisis situation, traffic will be between 60 and 90 messages per day.

This list is open to personnel engaged in United States Government intelligence, counterintelligence, military (active/reserve) and information warfare operations; DOD/OSD personnel working in communications , crisis and consequence management operations. Retired Military from the above fields are eligible. Select law enforcement
personnel, subject matter experts and academics are also eligible for membership.

Persons wishing to apply for membership should send a message containing their desire to apply to: <ai-admin@g2-forward.org> [but see bounces below]. The subject line of the message must be blank and the body of the message will contain the phrase SUBSCRIBE ACCESS INTELLIGENCE. Upon receipt of your request you will be added to the list within 24 hours. You will receive a message from the list. Please read it carefully. All information provided in the course of applying for membership is kept completely confidential.

Material posted to this list is for the non-commercial use of the list membership only. Commercial use of material from this list will result in the removal from the list of the offending person(s).

PRIVACY POLICY: It is the policy of G2-Forward not to exchange, trade, sell or otherwise divulge any information regarding the membership of any list(s) operated or controlled by G2-Forward to any entity for commercial or other purposes.

The Board of Directors of G2-Forward are Dr. Dorothy Denning, William Feinbloom, Richard Forno, Dr. Alijandra Mogilner and Dr. Catherine Woytowicz. The function of the Directors is to set general operating policy for G2-Forward and to provide the necessary facilities for the operation of the List.

Brief resumes of each of the Board Members follow:

Dr. Dorothy Denning: Dr. Denning is a Professor of Computer Science at Georgetown University. Her current research encompasses the areas of information warfare and assurance, encryption policy and technology, and the impact of technology on law enforcement and society. Dr. Denning’s latest book is Information Warfare and Security (Addison Wesley, 1999).

William Feinbloom: Mr. Feinbloom is a Professional Engineer with more than 25 years experience in the design of Telecommunication and Network Systems. His areas of current interest are network organization and design as well as distribution of content in a secure environment. Mr. Feinbloom holds degrees in Electrical Engineering and Chemistry and is a former member of U. S. Army Special Forces.

Richard Forno: Mr. Forno is the Director of Security for Network Solutions Inc. Mr. Forno holds a degree in International Studies from American University and was the youngest graduate of the Naval War
College in its history where he received a certificate in Strategic Studies. His latest book is The Art of Information Warfare (Universal,1999).

Dr. Alijandra Mogilner: Dr. Mogilner is a Anthropologist and writer currently working in Open Source Intelligence. Dr. Mogilner’s current interests center on developing interactive information matrixes from sociological and anthropological perspectives on cultural and religious based conflicts. Dr. Mogilner is a recognized expert in the field of terrorism.

Dr. Catherine Woytowicz: Dr. Woytowicz presently instructs in the fields of Nursing and Chemistry at Loyola University of Chicago. Dr. Woytowicz specializes in the areas of Organic and Analytical Chemistry as well as Forensic Chemistry. Dr. Woytowicz, in addition to her Doctorate in Chemistry, holds Honors degrees in Chemistry and Physics.

As noted in the bio’s above, the board members are deeply involved in information warfare and cybersecurity.

Another rabbit who here is Richard Bloom’s email address which is listed under the domain name TAIC.NET which appears has to be a shell internet service provider whose services have been split into pieces and swallowed integrated separate larger providers including Earthlink and Inter.net., but this requires a separate investigation

A quick Google search on for G2-Forwards domain name g2-forward.org doesn’t return any results for a website but it does return results for email communications from G2-Forward list that have been published online. (Note: the email addresses and domain’s listed in this communications should all be aggregated into a list for further research)

Several of those communications were sent from Board G2-Forward member and ‘information warfare expert’ Rich Forno, who coincidentally uses the term ‘infowarrior’ as his handle and his website infowarrior.org.

Notably, on Alex Jones Infowars urges listeners to join become infowarriors and join the inforwar against government propaganda.

Other FOIA documents reveal that many more websites being targetted beyond Alex Jones across a wide range of the alternative media spectrum.

Stormfront posts are the 2nd/3rd threads posted. Then I have the WND piece and Infowars… and American Spectator. Then the next two think the timing of the report was to demonize the right before the Tea Parties on 4/15 – and lastly Atlas Shrugged (a fairly popular conservative site) that insists this is part of the “plan” to move away from any focus on Islamic terrorism …

I just included this one because I liked the graphic: http://swordattheready.wordpress.com/2009/04/12/obamas-dhs-declares-domestic-right-wing-extremists-most-dangerous-threat-facing-usa/

Notably, pro-government shills trolled the author of the post at swordattheready article which reports on the DHS targeting tea party and other groups.

To spell out what’s happening here intelligence agents engaged in counterintelligence (CoIntel) using an ‘open source intelligence list’ to identify targets to engage in information warfare against and are caught in the act.

To the normal observer reading these comments they would have no idea these are government trolls in action.

Here are some comments:

You guys are nuts

You wingnuts are the greatest threat to the liblerty of all americans

Well, during the Bush era and the warrantless wiretapping and violations of Constitutional protection against warrantless searches, the neo-coonservatives were fond of proclaiming “if you’ve done nothing wrong, then you’ve nothing to worry about”.
–
Shouldn’t that same mindset hold true today? Or has the morbidity of hypocrisy come home to the practitioners of that black craft?
–
So, what’s the problem?

Can I please make a plea to anyone who has read this DHS statement?

Anyone claiming to be a Christian, please do not feed into the hands of these comments. Please do not act out violently! Please do not plan attacks! By doing so you will be proving right what every non-Christian has said about us and casting our Lord Jesus in a terrible light to those who need him most.

Im pretty sure this DHS report is targeting *radical hate groups*, people who are willing to kill innocent or uninvolved people to further their agenda.

Also, I don’t see the word “conservative” used at all in this report. Are the terms “right-wing extremist” and “conservative” used interchangeably now? I think it it quite a conspiratorial stretch to assume that.

This is targeting KKK-like or other radical or supremacist groups, not Joe The Plumber or George Will.

I still think you are ascribing this Bush Administration-requested document to be far more wide-reaching and insidious than it is.

The comparison to Hitler regarding the trade unionists and communists? Not sure where to start with that. When they start putting people in concentration camps I guess? I don’t see the DHS dragging Joe the Plumber, George Will or Rush Limbaugh off to camps, or being able to shut down any 2nd Amendment rights.

Hey, since youre going to spout off a bunch of insults (shill, brownshirt, stooge) I guess Im just going to say I can’t fight crazy, which is what you clearly are. Like on the order of total Bat-shiat crazy. Do the bugs in your skin bother you as much as my calmly worded posts? I highly recommend you just go back to your bunker and wait for the liberal takeover thats never going to happen. What you seem to forget in your orgiastic liberal takeover apocalypse fantasy is that we as the American people are armed to the f-in teeth. I dont beleive the government is going to be able to stop a hundred million armed people if need be. The reason its not happening now? Because the American public is probably more intelligent than you and isnt afraid. Sorry man. I know its an ego blow.Im trying to play devils advocate here instead of going balls-to-the-wall crazy conspiracy nuts on something like this and jumping about 9 steps ahead to the most dire, albeit unlikely conclusion. And yes, it was commissioned by the BUSH administration in the summer of last year. You think the turn around time is 2.5 months on a report like that from a government agency???? JAHAHAHAAH! You sir, are an idiot. Sorry about you not wanting to face facts, you must be so loved up on Bush (who was NOT a conservative) that you cant beleive he actually saw these nutjobs as a credible threat.

However one the correspondents is out of the but out of the Office of Intelligence & Analysis, U.S. Department of Homeland Security in Baton Rouge, LA.

Another’s identity can be ascertained because while the name and email was redacted it was sent from whoever the DHS Inspector, Federal Protective Service out of Fort Smith is/was on Tuesday, January 25, 2011

As time permits I will continue digging further into these documents, but clearly intelligence and counterintelligence agencies under the control of DHS is waging information warfare against the alternative media.